I have finally had enough of Donald Trump.  I have supported his presidential campaign for months based on his immigration policies.  However, his continued baiting, childish, crude, cruel, narcissistic behavior has caused me to question his fitness for command.

I am seeking a presidential candidate who will enact most of Trump's policies while being a full-fledged adult.

I am a classic three-legged conservative: culturally-socially traditional, free market, peace through strength.  I have voted Republican for decades while sharing the dismay of many conservatives over repeated concessions to the left.

Donald Trump's willingness to violate the protocols of political correctness has provided a welcome shot of adrenaline to the conservative movement.  His very first position paper, on immigration reform, made three assertions that, in former times, would have commanded universal assent from politicians and citizens all across the political spectrum: 1) a nation without borders is not a nation; 2) a nation without laws is not a nation; 3) a nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation.

We have come to a point in the political devolution of the West where it is considered reprehensible for a country to enforce its own laws and borders.  The populist uprising taking place across America and Europe is entirely predictable and justified.  It surpasses belief that of the 17 Republicans and 7 Democrats who have run for president this year, only one has clearly committed to building a wall along the border and deporting illegal aliens.

The data regarding the impact of Islam on culture is overwhelming and undeniable.  Here, too, it surpasses belief that only a single presidential candidate has proposed pausing Muslim immigration – and worse, all the other candidates have condemned this proposal vociferously.  Had this proposal been in effect during the 1990s, the World Trade Center would still be standing, and 2,996 people would not have died there.

As we observe the mass gang rape of Europe from afar, Donald Trump's immigration proposals should not be controversial.  Rather, they should be the baseline of future political discourse.  On this basis, I have supported Trump's campaign and have dismissed the naysayers.

However, Donald Trump's antics are not entertaining anymore.  His obsession with Megyn Kelly reminds me of nothing as much as a spurned suitor.

Far more alarming to me has been the ongoing series of retweets of neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic white supremacists – for example, here and here.  Several news organizations reported about Trump's retweeting Nazis, and the campaign has kept the tweets posted without apology.

I find the message from these Nazi retweets crystal-clear. Apparently, so do many white nationalists, according to the increasingly confident, hostile, and bellicose comments from white nationalists on several conservative blogs, including American Thinker.  This morning, I read a retweet mocking Glenn Beck's suicidal pain and despondency after surgery.

Donald Trump's candidacy is coarsening the character of Americans.  By doing so, Trump is playing a deadly game.  It has been the task of the left to undermine self-restraint, a war against civilization in which conservatives have always defended virtue.  Now Trump is turning conservatives into raw, howling machines full of hatred for anyone who questions any aberrant behavior on his part.  Trump's recent boast that he could kill Americans without affecting his support should set off alarm bells.

Are there alternatives in the Republican field?  Conservative Review provides a table of 11 Republican candidates on 11 issues.  We convert the highest grade, green, to 100, the middle grade, yellow, to 50, and the lowest grade, red, to 0, and average the results together for the candidates.  I have included candidates who have since dropped out of the race in italics for completeness.

• 95: Cruz
• 77: Paul, Jindal, Rubio
• 68: Walker
• 64: Perry
• 55: Carson
• 50: Trump
• 41: Santorum
• 36: Kasich, Huckabee
• 32: Bush
• 23: Christie
• 18: Fiorina, Graham

Of the top four candidates on this list, three are probably not natural-born citizens: Cruz, Jindal, and Rubio. That leaves Paul as the only natural-born citizen with a conservative score over 55 remaining in the race.

How does conservative scoring translate into success at the polls?  We make use of the Huffington Post Pollster average, which is more inclusive than the Real Clear Politics average.  We filter out live phone polls, as a Morning Consult study suggested that responses to live phone polls are not as honest as other types of polls.  Further, we use polls of registered voters and likely voters alone.

Numbers USA provides its own grades for the presidential candidates in both parties, based on policies and performance on 10 immigration-related issues.  The results are as follows:

• A: Cruz, Santorum
• A-: Trump
• C: Christie
• C: Carson, Huckabee
• C-: Bush, Paul
• D: Fiorina
• D: Kasich, Rubio
• F: Clinton
• F-: O'Malley, Sanders

It is reassuring that the top two candidates in the Republican primary are also two of the top three candidates on immigration.  Of those top three on immigration, one is apparently not a natural-born citizen, and one seems mentally unbalanced.  Because of the overwhelming importance of immigration in this election, I am inclined to vote for Santorum and pray for a miracle.

If, as appears more likely, Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, then my advice is simple: grow up if you want to earn the office founded by the author of Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour.  Not everyone is required to love you; not everyone is required to agree with you; not all who disagree with you are public enemies whose lives must be personally destroyed.  We are still suffering through one such presidency.

Surak is a patriot and a scholar.